First owners to occupy Belgrade Waterfront apartments

The two apartment buildings, known as towers, within the somewhat controversial project of the Belgrade Waterfront (BW) will accommodate the first owners during this weekend, the city Information Secretariat has said on Thursday.

Serbia’s Finance Minister, Sinisa Mali, said that Belgrade Waterfront was a symbol of changes in Serbia and its capital.

Mali was the Mayor of Belgrade in 2014 when the project between Serbia’s Government and the Eagle Hills, an Abu Dhabi-based private investment and development company, worth around 3.5 billion Euros, was launched.

The project includes offices and luxury apartment buildings, Belgrade Park, a promenade, five-star hotels, and a tower building overlooking a river.

However, it caused some controversies and had no support of independent architects and spatial experts.

On top of that, there was a lack of transparency regarding the agreement with the Arab partners and the cost for Serbia in it.

In May 2016, dozens of masked men demolished privately owned or rented buildings in the area during the night.

The old constructions, which the authorities said were illegal, stood in the way to further development of the BW.

The masked men mistreated people that were around, took away their mobile phones and police ignored calls for help.

The incident caused huge demonstrations with demands for resignations of the Mayor and the then Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

The Government denied any knowledge or responsibility for the event. The police officer on duty on the night of the incident has pleaded guilty of negligence and is on probation after a deal with the prosecutors.